Brown Eyes
by Molly Jae
Summary: Draco's wrapped up in a pair of brown eyes when he encounters a pair from his past. Hermione's just surprised about the path Draco's life had taken.


**DISCLAIMER:** Harry Potter isn't mine.

 **Author's Notes:** Haven't posted anything in a while. Here's a little something I found while cleaning up.

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Three years after graduating from Hogwarts, and he was looking every bit the muggle that he wasn't. He stood there, one hand in his pocket while his other held a bag. His platinum blonde hair had grown longer than what it used to be in his school years, and he'd decided to keep it shoulder-length so he didn't need to tie it in a ponytail.

" _Malfoy_?"

Turning cool grey eyes at the sound of his name, his eyes widened at the sight of curly brown hair and chocolate eyes.

"Fancy seeing you in a muggle neighborhood," said the woman beside him dubiously.

He debated pretending not to know her, but decided against it. After all their history, and especially with how she and Potter had saved him from a stint in Azkaban, he felt he owed it to her. Before he could even react though, someone else had called his attention.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

He caught the little girl running to him with ease, and swung her before settling her on his hip. He looked to his old schoolmate, offering her an amused smile at her shell-shocked expression. The little girl in his arms looked at Granger, dark brown eyes, pale skin, and the same straight platinum blonde hair as her father's.

"Hello, Granger," nodded Draco.

"Who's that, Daddy?"

Draco placed a kiss on her forehead, chuckling when his daughter giggled at how his stubble tickled her.

"She's a schoolmate of mine from Hogwarts," explained Draco. "Her name's Hermione Granger." He turned to Hermione, "Granger, this is Persephone Malfoy."

"You have a daughter?"

"Would you like to come over?" He said instead. "It's about time for her nap, so we best be going."

She was surprised at the offer, but agreed to it nonetheless. While the war taught her to be weary, she also knew that Draco Malfoy was not the type to harm anyone unless in self defense. His denouncing of the Dark Lord and refusal to kill Dumbledore had shown her that. Besides, the whole point of her being here was to build bridges, right?

Hermione had gotten so out of touch with the muggle world due to the war and the recovery right after. She'd only just returned her parents' memories three months ago, and they were due to return to England and arrive at the airport tonight.

Draco led her to a muggle house that wasn't too far from the park. He'd sent his daughter off to wash up and head to her room before offering refreshments and snacks to his guest, who watched him interact with both his child and his surroundings with interest. Who would have thought that Draco Malfoy would have been comfortable living a decidedly very muggle lifestyle?

"To answer your earlier question," said Draco after having successfully put his daughter to sleep with her favorite stuffed animal (an otter, Hermione had noted with surprise), "Yes, she is my daughter — in every sense of the word."

"How old…?"

"She's four." His brow twitched, "Born of a muggleborn mother that was given to me as a… _reward_ for letting them into Hogwarts."

They were seated in the living room, on opposite sides of the sofa. Enough space was between them for the other to know what their companion was doing at any given moment, but they were also close enough that Draco could simply sense that there was a sense of comfort being offered by the woman beside him.

"And you've decided to raise her as a muggle?"

"It was her mother's dying wish."

And it was in that one sentence that Hermione understood.

"You loved her."

"Brightest Witch of Our Age," mocked Draco with a laugh. "Right in one." He brought his cup of tea to his lips and took some sips before continuing, "I'd made sure that she was safe with her mother's family during the war. I'd helped them escape to America with some help from my mum. It wasn't until we graduated that I was able to see her again. We've been living there since."

"And yet you're here now."

"Narcissa Malfoy is to be released from Azkaban tomorrow, at twelve noon." He said in reply. "I only came back to take her with us. We — that is, Persephone, her grandparents, and her uncle — had been planning to migrate to Australia when her uncle's company transferred there. Everyone needed a fresh start, and Persephone needs a stable environment to grow up in. After picking up my mother, we'd fix all the needed papers and meet the Prices there." He sent Hermione an amused smile as he regarded her, "And here I have bared all my plans and caught you up with my life for no other reason than the lack of magical contact that I've had since being in America. What about you, Granger? How has the class Valedictorian been?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at his teasing, but offered a sympathetic smile at his predicament. She was about to respond when her cellphone rang. That was definitely something she was still getting used to.

She answered it and was surprised to find out that it was her parents. They had called to tell her that they had cancelled their flight in favor of an extended stay in Australia, and they'd invited her to join them so that they could all get reacquainted and relax for a bit.

Truth be told, Hermione wasn't at all surprised. She'd known they were apprehensive of returning to how things were. After having finally come clean to them about everything that had happened since she had found out she was a witch, her parents' worries only increased. Without a second thought, she told them that she'd return to Australia as soon as she was able, and when she hung up, it was to see Draco Malfoy looking at her curiously.

"My parents," she offered by means of an explanation. "I suppose I might be seeing you down under."

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 **Author's Notes:** Don't know if I'll continue this, but I've got some ideas. Let me know what you think!


End file.
